What made this weekend such a divine appointment was the fact that before this audition, my husband had never and I mean NEVER expressed any desire to see me enter into music ministry. Being a mother of three teenager girls and homeschooling my freshman daughter kept me insanely busy. Though I sang weekly on our worship team at church and took weekly vocal lessons, the idea of having a ministry in music was a far off dream that only God and I talked about. After all, where oh where would I ever find the time. So, you can imagine my surprise when I arrived home one afternoon in January to find an application to audition for “Gifted” being handed to me by my husband. God knew the secret desire of my heart and in that moment He swung the door of opportunity wide open and even though the audition did not go well, my husband proceeded to encourage me on our drive home that he thought it was time for me to use my gift of music in some sort of ministry capacity. His encouragement was like music to my ears.
When we arrived home on Sunday afternoon, we stopped to pick up our mail and there amongst the bills and such was my first Air1magazine. What made this a divine appointment was the fact that we had been contributing financially to Air1 for over a year and had never received their magazine until now. As I thumbed through it trying to take my mind off of all that had transpired in Las Vegas, there it was, a half page advertisement for Incubator Records. They were holding auditions for emerging artists that were interested in doing music ministry with a focus on recovery. I remember just sitting there at my desk, staring at that ad for almost an hour, reading it with almost a childlike anticipation that this was God's answer to my prayers. The whole weekend was one miracle after another and I felt humbled by it all. The following week I emailed Incubator Records and after a six month audition process God confirmed that this was the vehicle He would work through to accomplish His call upon my life. On July 25th, 2006 I signed with Incubator as one of their roster artists. It has been over 3 ½ years since I began my journey with Incubator and I must say it's been an exciting adventure.
Selecting my vision team was a HUGE step of faith for me. To watch God move in the hearts of those around me, giving them a desire to support me both financially and through prayer was such a confirmation to me that I was exactly where God wanted me. My Vision Team has been an invaluable part of my ministry because they are like family to me and I couldn't have done this without them.
The 18 months of Boot Camp(yes, it is as ominous as it sounds) gave my ministry; a foundation that was solidified through the process of writing a mission statement, helped me develop the daily disciplines necessary to build a strong ministry, and introduced me to a library of resources that has enriched my personal life and given me the tools to help others. I have learned volumes about the importance of running your ministry like a business by merging integrity and passion together to create something that will endure.
So many ministries fail because they either lack the business know how to keep they ministries afloat or the vision isn't strong enough to carry them through the oppositions that come with ministry. Incubator saw to it that there was no lack of vision where my ministry was concerned and having a strong vision helped to produce a harvest of material that clearly communicated what God wanted to say in and through my life to the body of Christ.
When I entered the Incubator experience I came with seven years of vocal training but I would soon learn from the master coach Dr. Martin, techniques that took all my previous training and my vocals to a whole new level. He is not about pretty he's about heart and that means getting the ego out of the way so the voice can communicate the vulnerability of the soul. He is an amazing vocal coach and I am blessed to have him.
And what would music ministry be without song writing. Though I've been writing lyrics since I was seventeen, the knowledge and instruction Incubator has given me has pulled out treasure from my life that I didn't even know existed and helped me pour it into songs that have the potential to touch the deep places in the human heart. Working with the songwriting team of Sheryl and Leon Olguin has challenged my writing skills and helped me to establish disciplines that keep me in the creative mode daily. I'm excited to see what songs will come out of these daily disciplines.
Stone upon stone, precept upon precept, Incubator has not only “hatched good stuff” but they've been faithful to “hatch God stuff”in me as well. There is so much to music ministry that is behind the scenes and I am forever grateful to Nate, Tami, Julie and all those on the Incubator staff for their guidance and leadership. They have kept me on my toes and stretched me beyond myself every step of the way. Ministry doesn't happen on an island, it happens in connection with God's people using their gifts to build up the body of Christ and that is what the Incubator experience has been to me. People helping people to advance the kingdom of God.
